Matt Striker

Matthew Kaye (born June 26, 1974) is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling commentator, actor and former high school teacher, currently signed to Major League Wrestling, using the ring name Matt Striker.

During his career he has worked for WWE, Impact Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA World Wide, Lucha Underground and Major League Wrestling.

Striker is currently working commentary for MLW Wrestling.

After training with Johnny Rodz, Kaye began working on the American independent circuit.

While working full-time as a teacher in 2004, he continued to wrestle during his vacation time and weekends, while also using sick days.

Striker trained and worked the northeast independent circuit with notable stablemates Ricky Vega and Tim Arson.

On December 16, 2004, Striker began a tour of Japan with Pro Wrestling Zero1 and was later invited back for an extended tour in early 2005.

After resigning from his teaching position, he continued to wrestle around New York, and on April 30, 2005, won the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC)'s Heavyweight Championship by defeating Mike Mondo.

A few weeks later, on May 21, while still the Heavyweight Champion, he defeated Joey Braggiol to win the NYWC Interstate Championship, but only held the championship for two weeks, before losing it back to Braggiol on June 4.

He made a few appearances for Ring of Honor in mid-2005, before returning to NYWC to lose the Heavyweight Championship to Jerry Lynn on July 30, after holding it for four months.

He continued to wrestle for independent promotions throughout mid-2005, until he signed a contract with WWE.

Kaye, using the name Matt Martel, wrestled Kurt Angle in an invitational match on the February 24, 2005 episode of SmackDown! in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

After the revelation that Kaye was a teacher appeared in mainstream news publications, Kaye made a WWE second appearance on the July 11, 2005 episode of Raw to face Angle for a second time.

His news coverage was played up by Angle, who once again defeated Kaye.

The following week, Angle defeated him for the third consecutive time.

Kaye, now known as Matt Striker, went on to compete on Heat and appear in WWE's developmental territory, Deep South Wrestling.

Striker developed a villainous teacher persona and beginning on December 12, hosted a segment called Matt Striker's Classroom on Raw.

During the segments, he ridiculed the audience and treated the crowd as intellectual inferiors.

On April 24, he participated in a six-man tag team match, in which he, Chris Masters and Shelton Benjamin were defeated by Carlito, Rob Van Dam, and Charlie Haas.

During the Backlash pay-per-view, Striker hosted an edition of his Classroom segment, which ended when Eugene, who in storyline was mentally impaired, attacked Striker.

Striker, in retaliation, attacked Eugene with a dictionary the following night on Raw.

The feud between the two ended when Eugene gained a mentor in "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and defeated Striker.

Striker appeared only rarely on Raw throughout June and July, and his final match for the brand was on July 31, when he was quickly defeated by John Cena.

At the end of August 2006, Striker left the Raw brand to join ECW, making his debut on August 23.

He continued his Classroom segment on ECW, which provoked a feud with The Sandman after Striker insulted him.

Striker made his in-ring debut for the brand on the September 19, 2006 episode of ECW, when his team of Mike Knox and Test were defeated by Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, and The Sandman when Test was disqualified for pushing the referee.

Striker continued his feud with The Sandman until the October 17 episode of ECW, when The Sandman defeated him in a Singapore Cane on a Pole match.

On February 6, Striker aligned himself with Mr. McMahon's New Breed stable, along with Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, and Marcus Cor Von.

The New Breed immediately engaged themselves in a feud with the ECW Originals (Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu and The Sandman).

At WrestleMania 23, the New Breed was defeated by the ECW Originals in an 8-man tag team match, but won a rematch on the following episode of ECW.

In the midst of the feud, tension began to appear between the leader Elijah Burke and Striker, after Striker and Cor Von were defeated by the debuting Major Brothers.

As a result, Striker began trying to avenge the loss to the Major Brothers and defeated Brett Major on the May 22 episode of ECW.

The feud with the Originals lost momentum, however, as Sabu was released from his WWE contract in mid-May, and the feud ended at the One Night Stand pay-per-view, when Striker, Cor Von, and Burke lost to Dreamer, Sandman, and CM Punk in a tables match.

On June 12, Striker was defeated by The Boogeyman in a singles match, and two weeks later, The Boogeyman attacked him during an edition of Piper's Pit.

On July 10, Striker invited Boogeyman to the ring, allowing the debuting Big Daddy V to attack him.

Striker then formed an alliance with Big Daddy V that lasted until March 2008, acting as Big Daddy V's manager and regularly accompanying him to the ring.

In November, Striker and Big Daddy V started a feud with Kane, after Kane attacked Striker.

Striker and Big Daddy V wrestled Kane in a handicap match, and the pair also aligned briefly with Mark Henry.

Henry helped Big Daddy V win a match against Kane on the November 27 episode of ECW, and in return, Striker refereed a match between Henry and The Undertaker, refusing to count a pinfall against Henry.

As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft in June 2008, Striker was drafted back to the Raw brand.